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Water breaking at 35 weeks but no contractions

Hello

My water broke exactly at 35 weeks and doctors want to induce me at 36 weeks. It's been 4 days since the water broke
and it doesn't look like I'll go into labour any time soon as I've had no contractions. I've been put on antibiotics and have been told my amniotic fluid levels are still good and the baby is doing well. Would it be reasonable to request holding out till 37 weeks? At least 37 weeks is considered full term and I just want to hold out for one more week.

I have just done some quick research to see what I could find to help you make your decision. The papers I read were mixed but there seemed to be a pattern in the few papers I looked at that showed that IOL did seem to reduce the rate of infection in babies and improved outcomes. There also did seem to be an increase in the number of caesarean birth's that occur if you choose an induction. There does seem to be a lack of good guidance about what is the best way to go. Here is one article that may help www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001208

Thank you

Thank you for the link. In your experience as a midwife have you ever had expectant mums hold out for more than a week after their waters break? It seems as long as antibiotics are taken and you keep clean the risk of infection is small. Are there complications other than infection that could be a risk factor in expectant management? I have asked to be induced at 37 weeks instead and just waiting to hear from the doctors. I'm also planning to drink raspberry leaf tea and lots of walking in the hope it may bring on natural contractions!

Yes I have seen women go more than a week when their waters have broken. In fact I've seen women go months (when there waters have broken very prematurely). Infection is the main concern when a woman's waters have broken.

I just wanted to give you some information on Raspberry Leaf Tea. The research shows that, rather than helping to induce labour, the Raspberry Leaf actually helps to make the contractions more efficient and so can lead to a smoother and easier labour.

Here are some methods that we have discussed on the forum before for naturally inducing labour. However, it is worth noting that these only tend to 'tip you over' into labour if your body is ready.

-nipple stimulation: this can help to release oxytocin
-walk lots (but don't exhaust yourself)
-eat a spicy curry
-eat lots of fresh pineapple. The evidence is mixed on this one and some sources cite it would take eating 5 fresh pineapples in a 24 hour period to bring on labour which would also make you feel quite ill but it's worth trying eating a sensible amount of fresh pineapple.
-eat a spicy curry: this can irritate the cervix and so set labour off
-relax in a warm bath and visualise your cervix beginning to open